Name: Sammy Ethridge
Position: Community Outreach Coordinator
Speech:
Hello my Feel Good partners and lovers of grilled cheese! My name is Sam Ethridge and I am running for the position of Community Outreach Coordinator for this coming spring semester with UVM FG! Whoo! Unfortunately I can’t give a real face-to-face speech since I’m abroad in Uganda right now, so for those who don’t know me I hope this speech and online video give you an idea of what I’m all about and more importantly why I am so amped and ready to commit to this position with Feel Good.
The community outreach coordinator sounds like such a broad position and to be perfectly honest…it is! But that shouldn’t be looked at in a negative light or as completely overwhelming. I see it as such an incredible opportunity to tap into the vast amounts of human resources we have at our own FG chapter, other FG chapters, other UVM clubs, and even more potentially great partners in the greater Burlington area. Everyone has something to add. Nobody knows everything and nobody knows nothings so why not harness the incredible amount of potential out there to link up, to partner, to exchange knowledge, and to share in this beautiful vision of a world free from chronic persistent hunger in our lifetime? We first just need to realize we actually can do it, despite various challenges, including that darn winter slump, that can make us distracted from our common vision and mission at UVM Feel Good.
When I talk about this seemingly endless amount of potential we can utilize in our own community, I see it in different partnerships, events, and continued coordination and collaboration between FG members and officers. The community outreach coordinator position is still very new to FG and this past semester has been focused a lot on partnering with the Burlington farmers market and creating even more partnerships for food donations. I definitely think this work is important to continue and that even the outgoing and incoming community outreach coordinators need to work closely, especially in the transitional stage so make sure nothing falls through the cracks. I also think it is very important to work closely with all of the officers in UVM FG since community outreach encompasses so much. Working closely on Jammin’, working closely with Trisha on reaching new audiences and making new connections, working closely with the deli managers when making new food donations and sustaining current donor relations, and especially working closely with the treasurer to be constantly aware of what funds are available for new potential events or partnerships. I would also like or mobilize another flash mob next semester, but this time work more closely with all the officers and partners to make the dance more focused on FGs message than just a show stoppin’ number. This will take collaboration with funds, advertising, mobilization of volunteers to accomplish this and really show our vision to the UVM community. I would like to do a lot of work with linking up with other universities in two ways. The first being with our University Chapter family across the U.S. Creating more opportunities to exchange valuable knowledge and feedback more frequently could help give us more guidance, more ideas, and continued excitement about creating lasting change. The second way would be through starting to ignite, empower, and equip other universities in the area to fall in love with Feel Goods mission. Feel Good World is trying to hard to start up new chapters and members and there’s no reason why we can’t help in that process since there are so many universities just in the Chittenden County area. We can do this by coordinating with their campuses to talk about FGs work, inviting interested persons to a meeting, and coordinating with their schools to maybe have a UVM FG sell day to get our name out there. Ultimately getting 2-3 people amped about ending chronic persistent hunger to start their own chapter is the goal and we can then act as mentors as we add more to the FG family. Finally, linking up with our own UVM clubs is very important in getting more to work towards this common vision and make it easier for all of us. Finding more opportunities to sell at campus events and even using those who aren’t in FG as back-ups for those dreaded slow days where sign-ups are low is a very realistic possibility. There have been multiple persons who have come up to me just wondering how they can sell grilled cheese. We just need to find them and the best way to do that is through partnering! It is also just important to be present around the kiosk a lot in order to chat with people and discover those potential link ups. As stated by many THP members here in Uganda, “you can’t do anything alone. Together it is simple.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Now I know exactly what you’re thinking…that’s a whole lot for just one semester and one position. But that’s just it. It’s not just one semester or just one position. The work of the community outreach coordination is to continue old projects and find opportunities for new ones. It is to constantly be in the know of its member’s skills and talents and to figure how to best utilize them towards the vision. The main reason why I see so much potential in this position and in UVM FG is because I know from my experience right now with The Hunger Project Uganda that is never is one person’s job or one aspect. We all supplement each other. We all have to work closely with one another to support one another to meet our individual goals that are in line with our common goal: ending hunger. As community outreach coordinator I see my in three parts. The first is the mobilizer. It is my job to find people, find the human resources, and empower and mobilize them to get a certain task completed. Whether it’s finding enough dancers for a flash mob or finding 2-3 people at St. Mikes to start a FG chapter, it is my role to get people amped and organized to initiate their own projects to end hunger. Basically I’m the UVM Feel Good animator for the Burlington Epicenter. The second role is the matchmaker. It is my job to find new opportunities, new partnerships, and new programs that are in line with Feel Goods mission and available resources. It is my job to be the liaison between the FG members, UVM community, FG chapters, and Burlington community in order to constantly be aware of what UVM FG and our FG family needs supplementing in. I need to listen to everyone and have a keen ear for new ideas and then communicate such ideas to the proper FG officer for further implementation. This leads me to my third and final role, the carrier pigeon. It is without a doubt my most important role to communicate with everyone on a daily basis. Without communication, there are gaps, and when here are gaps the vision becomes much harder to reach and not as clear.
Again, for those of you who don’t know me I’m Sam, or Sammie the Samwich. As I’m sure many of you are, I am also in love with Feel Goods mission and even more with our own UVM Feel Good family. I have been working with UVM FG for a year and half now and have had a lot of experience with mobilizing people and looking for new opportunities. I organized two Fee Good flash mobs last year to Single Ladies (fabulous I know) to spread the word about FG and Jammin’. I created partnership with various dance groups and acapella groups to get them to perform at Jammin’ last year, and also created a new partnership with said dance groups, namely Orchesis, to sell at their events. I attended the Big Cheese Summer Camp this past July and learned an invaluable amount about partnership and our common vision, but more importantly what effective tools to use to accomplish said goals. I absolute love working with people and have realized while away that it is really the only requisite I have for any future jobs. I’m a dance teacher (teach and work with people), tour guide (talk with people all day about how awesome UVM is), and have been doing research in Uganda with THP about what are the necessary tools, characteristics, and attitudes to have in every partner involved towards achieving this common vision (I just get to talk to people all day about how amazing they are). So from all that, I know I just want to work with people. I am a good listener, in fact (fun fact) Samantha means listener! I am good at keeping timelines and finding the right people to talk to. I am addicted to checking my e-mail. I like seeing things done to the finish line and am very flexible and adapt easily when challenges arise. Honestly, I am without a doubt a passionate optimist. I am visionary and I am exemplary and those are two qualities that literally every person of the 60+ people I’ve interviewed while here have said are necessary to be an effective actor in ending hunger.
In short, I want to develop an open and close relationship with all partners, members and who familiar and unfamiliar with ordering a grilled cheese sandwich. Most of all I just want to get down to business and get up to date with everyone at UVM FG. One women I interviewed who has only worked for THP Uganda for a month so far said that what has influenced her the most from THPs ideologies is “the fact that I can initiate my own ideas and be able to achieve my goals.” I felt like the words were taken right out of my mouth when she said that. I have a vision, I am so ready for the commitment of this position, I just need the opportunity to put it all in action by working in partnership with each and every one of you.
Thank you. Love and SO much Grilled Cheese. (seriously…there’s no grilled cheese in Uganda so I have a lot of love for it right now).
